1 886. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



129 



rank and of a good color in dry times. To 

 garden well one must discriminate in tliese 

 little matters. 



Transplant the White Lilies Now. We refer 

 here to the common Madonna Lil.v, L. nindi- 

 ('»«!, which is seen in so many gardens. This 

 species is peculiar, in the res])ect that it is at 

 rest during this montli, calling to be handled 

 now if at all. We may as well add that it is 

 one of the kinds that dislikes being often med- 

 dled with ; it thrives best when left undisturbed 

 for years. It is so fair a flower when once es- 

 tablished in good soil that there is scarcely a 

 place which a well grown group would not 

 adorn. Placed in bold masses and then left to 

 take care of itself, and few plants can compare 

 with this one when in bloom. See engi-aving. 



Street trees often receive shocking injury 

 from horses tied to them by a set of vandals. 

 The law in such ca-ses is practically of little 

 help, for once let a good sized tree be dam- 

 aged and no law or money can restore it. At 

 any rate, no better thing can be done than to 

 assist the tree as early as possiVile to recover 

 itself. A good coat of paint applied to the 

 wound will keep the wood from decaying until 

 the new wcjod and bark at the sides grow over 

 the place. Sometimes a plaster of earth and 

 cow dung is applied to such wounds. This 

 would be well enough wei'e it not that the 

 rains and wind are apt to wear it out before the 

 spot can get along without a cover-. 



To you, Reader ! We are trying very hard to 

 give our readers an excellent paper, and letters 

 received every day at this office go to show that 

 in a measure, at least, we arc succeeding. Now, 

 admitting that our laboi-s tell for the gofxl of 

 the paper, may we uot suggest to you, reader, 

 how you can in these fair summer days help 

 push oiu- paper on to the circulation it nee<ls 

 to make it a complete success? This may be 

 done by working to extend our circulation 

 among 3'our friends near and far away. ShouM 

 each one of our present subscribers send in, on 

 an average, but one subscription within the 

 next two weeks it would be a great encourage- 

 ment to us in our work. We ai'e not sure but 

 it would help us to make even a much better 

 paper yet. At any rate, why not try this, and 

 with the determination to succeed? Let us all 

 work together for making this the greatest 

 paper of its kind a going. Work will do it. 



California Fruits. Are not California fruits 

 much inferior in flavor to Eastern fruits? asks 

 an Ohio friend, (lenerally, yes. But that is 

 not a univ^ersal rule. AVe have occasionally 

 seen and tasted California fniits which were 

 simply ])erfection. But usually the fruits of 

 the Pacific Coast are insipid ami comparatively 

 tasteless. What they lack in flavor, however, 

 they make up in a]>pearance, ancl in sujiplying 

 the market we should never forget that the eye 

 as well as the palate nmst lie pleased. Now 

 California fruitsells well because it is beautiful. | 

 Against our better judgment weourselves pur- 

 chased a liasket of California peaches la.st fall 

 foi' seventy-flve cents when we could have got 

 a bi'tt«'r peach, but one that did not look as 

 well, for less than half the money. Our eye 

 was captured by the beautiful apjjeai'ance. But 

 Oh! what a jwach we got. It had no more of a 

 peach taste than a walnut and was as tough as 

 a piece of shoe leather. — M'rsft'rn Jiitirtf. 



The Birds have Friends. We have received 

 at this offii'e "Bulletin No. I of the Committee 

 on Protection of Birds," issued by the Ameri- 

 can I irnithologists' Union of New Y(jrk City. 

 It is a pamphlet of 1(1 pages filled with most 

 valuable articles bearing on the subject of bii'd 

 preservation. Indeed it has never before been 

 our pleasure to meet with such an array of 

 stated facts and figiu'es issued in the interests 

 of our feathered friends. Here are the sub- 

 jects of the papers given: "The Present 

 Wholesale Destruction of Bird Life in the 

 United States," "Destruction of Birds for 

 Millinery Purposes," " Destruction of Bird 

 Life About New York," " Destruction of the 

 Eggs of Birds for Food," "The Relation of 



Birds to Agriculture," "Bird-laws," "An 

 Appeal to Women" and " Birds and Bonnets." 

 The entire report formeiiy appeared as a sup- 

 plement to Scioici: AVe find no printed price 

 given for the pamphlet, but should think that 

 a remittance of 10 cents to the above Union 



would secure 

 a copy. Who- 

 ever orders it 

 will find some 

 very interest- 

 ing rea<l i ng 

 on an imjxir- 

 tant subject, 

 enough to last 

 (<<!■ one day 

 at least. 



Flower Mis- 

 si ons. The 

 goocl work 

 done by these 

 Missions in 

 most of our 

 towns in send- 

 i n g fresh 

 flowers to the 

 sick in hospitals and 

 elsew'here is most com- 

 mendable a n d should 

 be widely adopted. The 

 \ew York Triliiini' in 

 speaking of this work in 

 New York says: So 

 m a n 3' sad hearts are 

 cheered, so many i>oor 

 and sick are made glad 

 b}' it. The offerings are 

 carried by the expi'ess 

 companies free of 

 charge. If it is desired 

 that the package be re- 

 turned paint the name 

 and address of sender on 

 the side of the basket, 

 with the words "Return 

 to." In sending flowers 

 it is best to pack them 

 ina [jasteboard box. Put 

 a layer of moist paper in 

 the bottom, then a laj-er 

 of green leaves, then a 

 layer of flowers; lay over these a thin jjaper 

 and put on more flowers and so on till the box 

 is full. Sprinkle the top layer, cover tightly. 

 Thus put up flowers will keep twelve hours 

 <iuite fresh. Clover Blossoms, Daisies, Wild 

 Flowers, Roses — all are welcomed by the pale 

 faces that are shut within narrow city walls. 

 Fruits and jellies may be sent and they also 

 will be distributed by this beneficent "mission" 

 to the needy. 



"What Chrysanthemums like and what they 

 dislike under cultivation is jiointedly set forth 

 as follows by Mr. John Thorpe, a man who 

 knows all about the matter: 



THEV LIKE 



To be planted firmly, in rich soil; 

 Plenty to eat and plenty to drink ; 

 To have fovir or five hours' of sunshine a day; 

 A maniu-e or grass mulch after July 1st ; 

 To be well soaked with water or weak ma- 

 nure water often from August to October ; 

 To be divided every year; 

 To be tied up so as not to be hurt by wind; 

 To be protected from freezing when in flower. 



THEY don't I.IKE 



To be planted loo.sely, in poor soil; 



To be planted beneath the shatle of trees, 

 where there is no nourishment; 



To be starved ; 



To be dry; 



To be smothered all summer by vines, etc. ; 



To be left for years without dividing; 



To be placed where the sun never shines; 



To be severely frozen when coming in flower; 



To be in hot, (by and gasy rooms. 



Now let it be carried out. The last Legisla- 

 luie of New Yoi-k passed a very important 

 amendment to the Highway Act, The law 



r/i. 



M'hitr Of Madonna 

 Lilij. 



now requires the overseer of every road district 

 and of every sti'eet commissioner of every city 

 or village to give written notice to any occu- 

 pant of premises to cut all wee<ls, briars and 

 brush growing within the bounds of the high- 

 way. If they shall ni'glect so to do, and if, 

 after receiving su<-h notice, the occupant of the 

 premises shall fail to do so within ten days, it 

 shall be the duty of the overseer or street com- 

 missioner to em])lo}' some one to do so, and 

 when he returns his warrant he shall make 

 return, under oath, of the amount so expended 

 by him and the ownershi]) oroccupancy of the 

 several [larccls of land against which such labor 

 was performed. The commissioner orcommis- 

 sionei-s of highways shall certify these state- 

 ments to the supervisor of the town, and the 

 supervisor shall lay the same before the Ixjard 

 at their next meeting, and they shall include 

 the amounts in the taxes a.sses.sed upon the 

 lands where the lalior was performed, the same 

 to be collected and paid over, upon the order 

 of the supervisor, to the parties entitled thereto. 



Those Agents. Last season neighbor A and 

 neighbor B both concluded to plant some of 

 the new Japanese Creeper, .1 iiijirlojiais I 'eitch ii. 

 Neighbor A gave her order to a traveling agent, 

 paying .?1 each for the plants, and at that they 

 were of feeble character. Neighbor B, who 

 left off dealing with strange agents years ago, 

 ordered her jilants from a florist near her home. 

 The cost in this case was at the rate of four 

 fine plants for -^l. In one shape or another 

 such incidents, with just such contrasts, are 

 repeated ten thousand times over, perhaps, in 

 our land every yeai-. It leads us to say em- 

 phaticallj', no matter how far you may be from 

 good nurseries or seedsmen, buy nothing from 

 unknown agents, neither put your trust in the 

 seeds of the commission boxes left at corner 

 grocery stores. Responsible dealers by the 

 hundred issue catalogues expressly to aid those 

 who may be distant from them in buying. 

 Many of these have lately advertised in our 

 columns. Dealing with such parties you will 

 not only save money, but you may have the 

 satisfaction of knowing that the seller will 

 treat jou in a manner to secure yoiu- con- 

 tinued good will. Trust not the smooth- 

 tongued agents who are strangers to you. 



What One Girl Did. Mrs. Ella flrant Camp- 

 bell, of Cleveland, Ohio, a subscriber to Popu- 

 lar OakdeniiNo, has shown what a capable, 

 energetic young woman can accomplish in 

 building up a thriving business from a small 

 beginning. More than a dozen yeare ago she 

 was a quiet young giil with a busj- brain, re- 

 volving in her mind the problem of self-sup- 

 port. She loved flowers, ami like all flower 

 lovers was easily successful in raising them. 

 So she turned t« these sweet little frienils and 

 said, "Come help me." They resjjondeil, and 

 although her first serious efforts at selling 

 flowers lead through the humble jiat h of offering 

 some pretty bouquets in a pul)lic pUuv she at 

 once found customers, and from this stiirt soon 

 realized quite a substantial patrimage. Her 

 best stroke of eut<?rprise in her early experi- 

 ence was the .securing of the award from the 

 city of Cleveland for the floi'al decorations 

 used at the burial of President (iarfield. Her 

 artistic productions on that occasion were 

 brought into national prominence. To-tlay she 

 is well up among the successful florists of the 

 country, being the proprietorof the Jennings- 

 avenue Greenhouses at t'leveland. Her busi- 

 ness cai-eer, cngagcil in undei- many disadvan- 

 tages, isaliving sermon tootheryoung women. 



Annual Flowers are not appreciated as they 

 deserve by the great ma.ss of flower lovers. 

 There are scores of In-autiful and easily grown 

 things in thischuss In'sides the Asteis, Balsams, 

 Candytuft, Marigolds and others that are much 

 grown. From our window we can see a patch 

 of the richly colored blue Eutoca that has been 

 full of beauty for a month jiast and shows no 

 signs of falling ort' in the flowers as yet. Near 

 by stands a clump of the bell-shaped Whitlavia 

 crowded with spikes of deep violet flowers that 



